Saturday, October 22, 2011

Loaded For Swine And Porkies

THERE was a time, not so long ago, when Saturday mornings began with a peculiar excitement, the sort a hunter knows upon spying the fresh spoor and easily followed tracks of a favourite quarry. At the Billabong that was Phillip Adams, whose columns in The Australian so often led straight to bits and pieces lifted without acknowledgement from the New Yorker or The New York Review of Books. Along the way, of course, there were his many errors of fact and, and just to confirm the trail was indeed the Philcher’s, those weekly distillations of standard-issue luvvie prejudice, like his observation just days after 9/11 that the U.S. is a thoroughly worthless place and richly deserves whatever ills befall it. Toss in those oft-repeated anecdotes of life at Kew Primary and all the bitter memories of his clergyman stepfather (who must have had a lot to put up with) and he framed himself in the crosshairs week after monotonous week.

Hunting the Philcher was fun at the time, but the appeal eventually faded, there being little challenge to a target so compelled to place itself in the crosshairs. And anyway, what did it matter? Regardless of his specific sins, the New Establishment would never, ever move against one of its own, hence the pulpit and prominence Radio National continues to provide its leading plagiarist, bigot and blowhard.

This morning, though, it was like old times when the Australian’s magazine fell open at Adams’ latest dribble:

“…only a fool would fail to see the links between the Tea Party movement and – no, not the Bostonian Tea Party, but the U.S. Civil War. Many Americans seem rather unhappy to have a Negro in the White House.”

The nostrum that many Americans dislike their President for his melanin content, rather than an arrogant and spendthrift incompetence, sits so comfortably with Adams and those who support his ego and bank account, it was inevitable the columnist would sooner or later draw that particular bow, which is a long one indeed.

He won’t, of course. Next week -- same page, same colour magazine – Adams will have mustered another mob of clichés and errors, herded them into print and departed with one more ill-deserved cheque in his grubby little trotter.

Perhaps Rupert Murdoch, who is not quite so sharp these days, and his Australian executives, who have lost the stomach for a fight, think that keeping Adams on the payroll works to News Limited’s advantage. It may be that they see Adams’ chronic name-dropping as proof his Rolodex is stillworth plumbing – a belief that would be true only if there were favours to be curried from the ghosts of the Whitlam-era has-beens who haunt those endless trips down memory lane. Good luck with that, John Hartigan, if you think Barry Jones and Moss Cass can deflect the media inquiry ordered by co-PM Bob Brown.

It has been quite a while at the Billabong since Adams’ work was given thorough scrutiny, but it is evident that somebody has to do it. So here is a warning, Phillip, you are back under the microscope. Nothing personal, mind you, but with a Coalition government waiting in the wings it will be handy to have a ready dossier on Radio National’s star gabbler to inform whatever committee or investigation Tony Abbott orders to report on much-needed reforms at the ABC.

23 comments:

Someone once said listening to Adams was like hearing a wax cylinder with a repeating groove.

Perhaps they should have said the groove was a plug-in chosen from the New Yorker and its printed mates. Still repetition, though, and not APOW.

We've seen those toppled statues of Stalin rusting away in the junk-yards of towns east of the Urals. But are they Stalin, or the black amorphous shoulders-to-ground coated Phillip, increasingly bloated with the decaying ideology of socialism?

And what better way to spend an hour than listen to Phil softly purr away in (The Excuser) Noam's ear, until both their pockets are saturated. Well, I can think of a few, nay, many. I guess The Australian can never be accused of lacking charity, but I object to the ABC running this fellow's borrowed burps of the same variety as 1,000 episodes of Blue Hills (sorry, Gwen).

Anon ,you are correct "mother brown" is PM with the huge 83000votes and prefs needed to be a Tassie senator! Also Juliet was mis quoted " no carbon tax under a government "I. LIED " does that help? Will I get a job as an ALP spin wanker??

"standard-issue luvvie prejudice"Bunyip - please tell me where I can go to learn this erudite patois. It is so terribly impressive.....would go down a treat in a club for gentlemen's personal gentlemen.

"perhaps he can explain why the current Tea Party favourite is Herman Cain, who is both a good deal darker and considerably more accomplished than the testament to the folly of affirmative action which now occupies the Oval Office.", and as most American commentators,even black ones, are coming to realise thyt he is more more genuinely African American than the Obummer.

Anonymous: The Philcher did not go to uni, which may be the best and nicest thing about him. As for Kew, the Philcher's stepdad was a preacher, so house came with job. As for Kew being posh, well parts of always have been and all of it is today. But as recently as 40 years ago, there were affordable pockets, especially down by the Yarra on the Richmond side (below Burke Hall school, if you know it).

Bob, you are still holding onto a lot of anger. Why are you so angry at Professor Bunyip? Why do you visit his site so often to snipe?

Let it go... At Plum Village we are all hoping you can live happily in the present. Vietnam was a long time ago. Life is available only in the present moment and it is possible to live happily in the here and now. Remember this...

The bloke who used to cut my hair, before he retired, was a nasho who served in Vietnam. In the 8th battalion. The 'Grey eight' he'd call it.His Company OC was Maj. Jeffrey who was GG before what's her name. He only told me this because I had served in the regs, otherwise he never spoke about it. Anyrate, this barber, he had a really sunny disposition you'd say. He was high on life and had no axe to grind.

Numbers is back, ostensibly to check the supposed sniping he so detests. No doubt he avidly monitors the site 24/7 for he reckons it's "non-stop". Talk about devoted to his task. And now he's presented everyone with that considered conclusion.Will that need further confirmation from Numbers? Whaddya reckon, Numbers?